Damp mop tool with hand activated liquid dispenser

Abstract

A damp mop includes a handle with a bore that defines a reservoir for a volume of cleaning liquid. The neck includes a socket with an outlet chamber and a liquid outlet orifice is defined in the neck in communication with the outlet chamber. A handle tip is engaged with the neck socket and includes a flow passage in fluid communication with both reservoir and the outlet chamber. A rod is located in the handle and includes an inner end with a piston. The rod and piston are selectively manually movable between: (i) a retracted position in which liquid can flow from the reservoir into the outlet chamber; and (ii) an extended position in which the piston blocks flow of liquid. The piston pressurizes the outlet chamber when it moves from the retracted position to the extended position to cause cleaning fluid to be ejected from the outlet orifice.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A damp mop tool comprising:
 a head including a body and a neck connected to the body, said body adapted to be connected to an associated floor cleaning element; 
 a handle comprising an inner end connected to the neck and an outer end spaced from said inner end, said handle adapted to be held by a user and comprising an internal bore that defines a reservoir adapted for containing a volume of associated cleaning liquid; 
 said neck comprising an internal neck passage that defines a socket and an outlet chamber that communicates with said neck passage; 
 at least one liquid outlet orifice defined in said neck, said liquid outlet orifice including a first end that opens through an external surface of the neck and including a second end that is in fluid communication with said outlet chamber; 
 a handle tip connected to the inner end of the handle and engaged with said socket of said neck, said handle tip comprising a liquid flow passage including an inlet portion in fluid communication with said reservoir of said handle and an outlet portion in fluid communication with said outlet chamber of said neck, wherein said neck passage comprises internal threads and said handle tip comprises external threads engaged with said internal threads of said neck passage to connect said handle tip to said neck; 
 a seal located between said handle tip and an internal surface of said neck passage to inhibit flow of cleaning liquid between said handle tip and said internal surface of said neck passage; 
 a flow control system for controlling the flow of liquid between said reservoir of said handle and said outlet chamber of said neck, said flow control system comprising: (i) a rod located in and adapted for reciprocal sliding movement in said internal bore of said handle, said rod comprising an inner end and an outer end; and (ii) a piston connected to the inner end of said rod, said piston conformed and dimensioned for close sliding fit within said outlet portion of said handle tip liquid flow passage; 
 said rod and piston selectively manually movable between: (i) a retracted position in which the piston is withdrawn from said outlet portion of said handle tip liquid flow passage such that liquid can flow from said reservoir of said handle into said outlet chamber of said neck; and (ii) an extended position in which the piston is extended into the outlet portion of said handle tip liquid flow passage; 
 wherein said piston is defined from a resilient polymeric material and fits closely and slidably within said outlet portion of said handle tip liquid flow passage such that said piston pressurizes said outlet chamber and ejects liquid from said outlet chamber through said at least one liquid outlet orifice when said rod and piston move from said retracted position to said extended position; 
 said outer end of said handle comprising an end cap and said outer end of said rod extending outwardly from said internal bore of said handle through said end cap such that said outer end of said rod is adapted to be manually grasped by a user to move said rod and piston between the retracted and extended positions; 
 said damp mop tool further comprising: 
 a spring located within said internal bore of said handle to resiliently bias said rod and piston toward the extended position, wherein said rod comprises a spring stop connected thereto, and wherein said spring is captured between said spring stop and said end cap. 
 
     
     
       2. The damp mop tool as set forth in  claim 1 , wherein said outer end of said rod comprises an outer protuberance that defines a gripping portion and an inner protuberance that defines a stop for engaging said end cap, wherein both said outer protuberance and said inner protuberance are located outside said bore of said handle, said damp mop tool further comprising a seal located between said inner protuberance and said end cap for inhibiting leakage of cleaning liquid between said end cap and said rod. 
     
     
       3. The damp mop tool as set forth in  claim 1 , wherein said inlet portion of said handle tip liquid flow passage is larger in cross-section than said outlet portion of said handle tip liquid flow passage, and said handle tip liquid flow passage further includes a transition portion that connects said inlet portion to said outlet portion, said transition portion converging radially inward as it extends from the inlet portion to the outlet portion. 
     
     
       4. The damp mop tool as set forth in  claim 1 , further comprising a rod support connected to said handle tip and slidably supporting said rod within said internal bore of said handle. 
     
     
       5. The damp mop tool as set forth in  claim 1 , wherein said handle comprises:
 a first handle portion; 
 a second handle portion; and, 
 a coupler that joins said first and second handle portions together, each of said first and second handle portions comprising a respective internal bore and said coupler comprising a central passage that fluidically connects said internal bore of said first handle portion to said internal bore of said second handle portion; 
 said coupler comprising a fill opening that communicates with said central passage and comprising a removable cap for selectively closing said fill opening. 
 
     
     
       6. The damp mop tool as set forth in  claim 5 , wherein said coupler comprises a rod support located in said central passage and slidably supporting said rod for reciprocal sliding movement. 
     
     
       7. The damp mop tool as set forth in  claim 1 , wherein said handle comprises a cylindrical outer surface having a maximum outside diameter dimension, and wherein said reservoir is at least substantially radially contained within said maximum outside diameter dimension. 
     
     
       8. The damp mop tool as set forth in  claim 1 , wherein said handle comprises a cylindrical outer surface having a maximum outside diameter dimension, and wherein said reservoir is completely radially contained within said maximum outside diameter dimension.